


Breath

by Aroomie



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, BIKM Bingo, Drowning, First Kiss, I hate tagging, Kiss of Life?, Life Saving, M/M, Mates, Mermaid/Merman, Protective Eskel (The Witcher), Shipwrecks, Storms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:41:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29962443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aroomie/pseuds/Aroomie
Summary: A ficlet from the BIKM Bingo that I was really happy with and wanted to get posted as a separate work.Mer-Eskel saves Jaskier from drowning.That's it, that's the fic.
Relationships: Eskel/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 8
Kudos: 60





	Breath

“Jaskier!” The young man’s head whipped around, looking towards the elderly captain that called his name. “Get your ass to the port! They need your help on the ropes!”

“Yes, Sir!” Jaskier could barely hear the old captain over the storm raging above them, the wind causing the rain to feel more like acid rather than water as it pelted his skin. Jaskier slid across the deck, the finely sanded planks slick as oil with the coating of water, sliding to a halt as he collided with the railing and grabbed hold of the ropes before the momentum of the slip caused him to go overboard. 

“Easy there, kid!” Jaskier just smirked over at his crew-mate, laughing with him as a rough wave came up and crashed onto the deck, making their feet slip about. 

“C’mon! Pull!” The crew pulled the ropes, trying to get them tied down properly. 

“Look out!”

“Find cover!”

Jaskier looked up, tightening his grip on the ropes in his hand, fear crawling up his spine as his eyes widened, watching as a wave three times the size of the ship loomed over them. Dread filled his gut as it started to tumble over, and Jaskier shut his eyes tightly, wrapping the rope around his arm quickly and curled into a tight ball just in time to have the wave crash down onto the ship. 

~~~~

Eskel swam alongside his brothers, picking up scraps from ships that had sunk to the bottom of the ocean, a small chuckle leaving him as a sudden current from the storm raging overhead and propelling them forward. 

“Feels like a big one,” Lambert says, smiling as he looks over his shoulder, flicking his crimson tail at the waters. 

“Think we’ll find anything new?” Eskel asks, plucking a small piece of wood from the ocean floor to investigate it. 

“Hmmm,” Geralt looked back at his brother, brow lifted.

Eskel just rolled his eyes, following behind his brothers. Geralt’s silvery tail easily spotted in the darkened waters, his gaze darting towards Lambert as his crimson tail flicked in and out of sight. The larger mer sighed, looking back at the wood in his hand, as his brothers would say he had a bleeding heart for the humans, always taking the time to bury all the skeletons they find on the ocean floor. 

The brothers all paused as a loud cracking noise echoed through the waters, looking up and staring wide-eyed as they watched a ship, one of the larger ones they’ve seen, split in half and shatter as a large wave crashed into it. 

“Fuckin’ hell,” Lambert breathed, watching as the ship gets torn apart by the constant onslaught of rough waters from the storm. 

“No way anyone survived that,” Geralt said, ever the ray of sunshine, and Eskel glared over at him.

“Ever the delightful one, aren’t you brother,” Eskel deadpanned, smirking when Geralt rolled his eyes. 

“Think there was anything good on there?” Lambert asks, looking towards Geralt, the silver mer shrugged his shoulders. 

“Possibly, we will have to wait for it to sink more before we can investigate,” Geralt says, folding his arms over his chest. Lambert snorted.

“I got nothing to do, do you?” Lambert smirked, Geralt shrugged and looked around, setting himself down on a rock. Eskel rolled his eyes at his brother’s banter, staring up at the wreckage as it slowly sunk to the depths. His gaze narrowing as he stared at all the broken pieces, the barrels spilling out from the hold, the tables floating up to the surface, the bodies of the lifeless crew that couldn’t get a breath before the wave crashed on them. 

Eskel’s eyes went wide as his gaze caught something moving, something struggling against ropes wrapped around itself. His brothers must have seen it too if the sharp intake of breath was anything to go by. 

“Well, that… sucks,” Lambert groused, frowning hard.

“Drowning,” was all Geralt said as they watched the scene unfold. Eskel looked over to his brothers then back at the struggling human, his body itching to move, to get to it, and he was about to when suddenly a strong arm wrapped around his shoulder and he looked over to see Geralt staring at him with a hard frown.

“Don’t,” Geralt growled, “it’s against the rules!” 

“Rules that are century years old! When the elders forced us into hiding because of some misunderstanding!” Eskel yelled, pulling his arm from Geralt’s grip.

“Eskel!” Geralt yelled after his brother, Eskel’s emerald tail barely visible in the dark waters until he got closer to the surface, the light from the storm making the emerald scales stand out like gems. 

Eskel swam as quickly as he could, rushing over to the struggling human. He reached the man just in time to see a burst of bubbles leave the man’s mouth, eyes shut tightly as he gave up struggling with the ropes and instead clawed at his throat. 

The human must have sensed him approach cause his eyes suddenly flew open wide, another burst of bubbles leaving his mouth as Eskel approached. Eskel held up his hands in a placating manner, knowing the human wouldn’t be able to understand him, and pointed to his claws than the rope as he made a swishing movement through the water. 

He didn’t wait for the human to answer and just went ahead, grabbing hold of the rope with one hand and cutting it away with the claws on the other. Once he was free, the human began struggling to go up, to get air, but another wave crashing down against the ocean’s waters pushed him back down. 

Eskel frowned and quickly grabbed hold of the human, pulling him close. He didn’t have time to try and explain what he was going to do, grabbing hold of the human's jaw, Eskel pulled his face towards him and locked his mouth over his. The human struggled, pushing against Eskel’s chest, but the moment the human’s mouth opened again in an attempt to get air, Eskel could feel the small amount of water he’d already swallowed and dipped his tongue inside to absorb the water from the human's body and expel it through the gills on his neck. 

The human struggled less, eyes wide, as Eskel breathed into his mouth, giving him air. Eskel kept his eyes on the humans, admiring how _blue_ they were, a small smile appearing on his lips as he pulled back when the human tapped his shoulder and looked at Eskel properly. His fingers trailing across the sun-kissed colour of his skin, dipping down to trace the start of his scales around his waist, eyes stuck on his gills. 

Eskel held the human there for a solid minute before the human’s face scrunched up and bubbles escaped his mouth again, so he dove in without a second thought to refill his lungs. Once he finished, Eskel pulled the human close to his chest and looked around, smiling wide when he saw a cave in the closest reef. He held the human's face on his chest and dove, swimming down quickly but not so fast that the pressure would hurt the human, and swam into the cave. 

He only needed to swim into the cave a few strokes before it turned upward and he breached the surface, the human sputtering and gasping loudly for air, sucking it in greedily. Eskel helped the human onto the edge of the small pool, looking around the air pocket and realized that there was a type of glowing sea slug that provided light in the cave. 

“You… you're a merman,” Eskel looked over towards the human, smiling and giving a nod. “And you understand me,” Eskel nodded again with a small roll of his eyes. “And a smart ass,” Eskel’s shoulders shook with mirth. 

“I… thank you, for saving me,” the human said, watching as Eskel swam over to him, eyes wide as he looked at the emerald tail. “Uh,” he licked his lips, “my name is Jaskier,” Eskel smiled wide, now knowing the human's name. “I… I don’t suppose you can speak, can you?” Eskel tilted his head, watching Jaskier.

“Eskel,” Eskel said his name, pointing at himself. 

“Es-... Eskeial?” Jaskier tried, Eskel shook his head.

“Eskel,” he said again.

“Eskel,” Jaskier echoed and Eskel beamed, nodding quickly. 

“Eskel,” Jaskier pointed at the merman, “Jaskier,” then pointed at himself.

“Jas… kier,” Eskel said slowly, the voice deep and rich, making Jaskier shiver. 

“You saved me,” Eskel nodded, “aren’t there, like, rules against something like that? I mean… you’re a merman,” Jaskier said, waving his hands about. Eskel just nods, still smiling at Jaskier. “And… you don’t care?” Eskel shook his head. “Huh…” Jaskier just stared at him, a small smile on his face.

“Eskel!” Jaskier went rigid at the new sounds, the loud clicking noises coming from the water making him jump back in the waters and cling to Eskel’s side while the emerald-tailed merman looked towards the entrance of the cave. 

Geralt and Lambert’s head appeared from the waters, both of the brothers blinking in surprise to see Eskel holding the human so close to him, protecting him, and Geralt sighed heavily.

“You have to be fucking difficult, don’t you,” Geralt growled, shaking his head. 

Eskel growled at Geralt as Lambert started to laugh, holding his mate close to his chest.


End file.
